Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City on Friday
issued the following statement in response to the state’s new unemployment
numbers:

“There should be no shock to see the state’s unemployment numbers going down
as we head into a holiday season. Indiana’s largest employer is Wal-Mart. It
should be obvious and predictable that our biggest gains would be in the
service sector.

“I am glad that there are more folks able to pick up work around the
holidays, but I’m sure we also can agree that this is not a path to
prosperity. Indiana continues to lag when it comes to long-term solutions to
help our middle class rise up again.

“Creating new jobs means nothing without improving incomes, and in those
areas, Indiana continues to lag. Our per capita income is $24,497 compared
to $27,915 nationally, and our median household income is $48,393 compared
to $52,762 nationally.

“There will be time to celebrate when those numbers start to improve.”